God’s Desire for Us in 2012

When we want to know God’s will and purpose for us in this new year, we must turn to the truth of God’s word that sets us apart or sanctifies us (John 17:17). The message of scripture is clear: Submit yourselves then to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you, draw near to God and He will draw near to you (James 4:7-8a).

Paul spoke to the philosophers of his day, who taught that happiness within self is the ultimate goal of man, reminding them that the God who made the world is in fact the judge of all the world and wants all men to repent and seek Him (Acts 17:24–31).

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

29 “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill. 30 In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31 For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” (NIV)

The point here again for us is that God who made us has given us this time and place, in the world and in our lives (17:26) that we should repent (lit. meta/change + noias/mind) and seek Him and perhaps find Him (17:27).

2012 is the year of “drawing near to God” so that He can draw near to us. God wants even to death on a cross that we should draw near to Him. The question for us is: do we want to draw near to Him? God bless you in 2012 to draw near to God through worship, study, and prayer.